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How did the replication bomb we call ”life” begin and where in the world, or rather, in the universe, is it heading? Writing with characteristic wit and an ability to clarify complex phenomena (the New York Times described his style as ”the sort of science writing that makes the reader feel like a genius”), Richard Dawkins confronts this ancient mystery.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Nearly a century and a half after Charles Darwin formulated it, the theory of evolution is still the subject of considerable debate. Oxford scientist Richard Dawkins is among Darwin's chief defenders, and an able one indeed-- witty, literate, capable of turning a beautiful phrase. In River Out of Eden he introduces general readers to some fairly abstract problems in evolutionary biology, gently guiding us through the tangles of mitochondrial DNA and the survival-of-the- fittest ethos. (Superheroes need not apply: Dawkins writes, "The genes that survive . . . will be the ones that are good at surviving in the average environment of the species.") Dawkins argues for the essential unity of humanity, noting that "we are much closer cousins of one another than we normally realize, and we have many fewer ancestors than simple calculations suggest."

From Publishers Weekly

Dawkins (The Selfish Gene) pictures evolution as a vast river of DNA-coded information flowing over millennia and splitting into three billion branches, of which 30 million branches?today's extant species?survive. Emphasizing that the genetic code is uncannily computer-like, comprising long strings of digital information, the eminent Oxford evolutionary biologist surmises that we are "survival machines" programmed to propagate the database we carry. From his perspective, nature is not cruel?only indifferent?and the goal of a presumed Divine Engineer is maximizing DNA survival. Dawkins cautiously endorses the controversial "African Eve" theory, according to which the most recent common ancestor of all modern humans probably lived in Africa fewer than 250,000 years ago. The author's narrative masterfully deals with controversies in evolutionary biology. Natural Science Book Club dual main selection; Library of Science alternate. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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I finally get him!!! Guess what? Your DNA is eternal, not you. It flows like a river through us (and all creatures) and we are merely the banks (of the river) that house the DNA for its continuation into next generation, and the next (or not).

I have read many of Dawkins' books and articles and this is a winner! If you're interested in learning exactly what Dawkins means by "The Selfish Gene" or the DNA river - this is the read & it's a quickie! The concepts are not as difficult in this book as in many others. Rather, it's a layman's explanation of our beginnings from the replication bombs in space to the biological zygote (or previous bacteria) and on to our own technological replication bombs. Now, I get why he was lead to the next step: memes.A fun read about the river of DNA that flows in all of us! And, it was particularly interesting to learn about Mitochondrial eve and the importance of the female line as it is always a pure line (no mixing of DNA there!), making it much easier for scientists to study.

Nice run through the principles of how life formed on this planet and progressed to its current state. As a novice, I at times found hard to read but I figured out enough to have a simple understanding of evolution.

After the blind watchmaker, I wasn't going to read any more Dawkins until I read the Selfish Gene, but I found this book in a dollar bin and because its so short I went ahead and read it. This book really benefits from its short length, for once Dawkins seems to really stay on track and not ramble on. I sometimes feel that the other of his book are filled with 30% fluff just to make them longer. The book follows a digital river (DNA), and uses that to follow first bacteria type of cells, then multi-part cells, then complex life. I can see people rating this book lower because it often references The Selfish Gene, The Extended Phenotype and The Blind Watchmaker, and I assume that everything included in this book is included in those books with much more detail, so after reading those books this one might become redundant, but I think this one is likely a good introduction to Dawkins thought and writing.

This is a short little book that really explains how DNA and evolution work. It is aimed at a general audience, and it succeeds very well, in my opinion. I bought this book for my son in 1995, to help him in biology, and I was very pleased with it. It was my introduction to the works of Dawkins, and since then I have read "the Selfish Gene" and many others. So many people have borrowed my tattered old copy that I decided to buy this one for a loaner! It would make a nice gift to any high school student who has a lousy biology teacher!

This is my 6th Dawkins book. I think it would have made a better 1st. It weaves together some of the ideas of The Selfish Gene and The Blind Watchmaker with only the tiniest smattering of Extended Phenotype in a light introduction to the way Dawkins thinks about evolution. (I don't mean to draw a sharp distinction between Dawkins' view and the broader consensus of biologists - just that he has a particular way of talking about the subject.)

Dawkins is an ethologist, meaning much of his own research/training is focused on animal behavior, and I think the best parts of this book reflect that specialty. For example, my favorite part of the book was a fascinating discussion about exactly how honeybees dance to reveal the direction and distance of pollen, along with some experiments conducted to get a feel for how that dance might have evolved.

If I had a quibble with this book, it is that I thought the chapter on God's Utility Function was strange. The chapter invited the audience to consider the very line of thinking that Dawkins has argued against in The Blind Watchmaker: to see if we can determine what purpose a Designer would have by contemplating how nature functions. But what follows isn't any sort of slam-dunk rebuttal of that way of thinking. In fact, one could imagine this exercise as a success and decide that the Designer is most concerned about DNA spreading, so we should absolutely legislate against birth control and abortion because the will of the Designer is that we breed and breed abundantly. Further, we could conclude that the Designer wants us to compete for limited resources so that evolution continues, so we shouldn't worry about maintaining biodiversity or over population or rapid consumption of natural resources. Maybe my quibble is showing that 'natural theology' can lead to something every bit as bad as (indeed, indistinguishable from) a society built purely on Darwinian principles (something Dawkins has argued against), but I guess my point is that I don't think Dawkins made his point very strongly in this chapter (which nevertheless had some astute observations).

I think there is a definite place in Dawkins' stable of writings for a simple book that just outlines, clearly, 'what evolution is', without focusing on lists of evidence (Greatest Show on Earth? haven't read that yet. Jerry Coyne's 'Why Evolution is True' falls in this category), overcoming objections (Blind Watchmaker, Climbing Mount Improbable) or advocating particular mechanical details (Selfish Gene, Extended Phenotype). But I'm not quite sure this book fills that slot. Nevertheless, it was a good read and I enjoyed many of the examples.

Notes on the Kindle edition:

The Kindle edition lacks a table of contents, even though the print edition has one. It would be nice if the responsible party would add that back in.

The images at the start of each chapter are included at the end of the previous chapter, with the footnotes for that chapter appearing after the image for the next chapter. Seems like there must be some way to keep each chapter's illustration at the start of that chapter.

When I finished reading this, Kindle recommended The Ancestor's Tale, which is by far my favorite Dawkins book. But it turns out, they would only let me download a sample or add the book to my wish list; I could not buy a copy. I hope Amazon or the publisher will sort things out so that this book is available to US Kindle customers (UK readers can already get it), as it was, I just felt taunted.

Richard Dawkins presents clear and insightful arguments supported by examples to show that we do not need a god to explain the development of life on earth. Some speculation about where to from here.An enjoyable read. I would have liked it to be longer.

Reading the other customer comments you can see that this book will upset many readers of 'strong faith.' In addition, there are a few that say material in this book has been written by Dawkins elsewhere before.Well, this is the first book of his I have read, and I found it to be provocative and very interesting. He tends to put down those who believe in 'something larger' besides the theory of evolution, which wasn't really necessary except to bring out loud counterarguments in the reviews from those folks.The best parts of the book were the clear, logical, and interesting examples of natural selection. It has been said that gaining new perspective is one of the most powerful things you can learn. This book will definitely give you a new perspective on the world around you, and will be a short and interesting read in the process. Enjoy.